Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Black Friday Deals... On Thursday!

It’s
that time of year again!The time where
you spend a day of thanks to remember all that you have and all you should be
happy about… just a month before you receive things you desired and probably
didn’t even need.I’ve experienced way
too many holiday seasons working in retail.Far more than I ever intended to experience.

This
will be a quick post since I’ve mentioned before how pointless I find people
lining up as early as Wednesday for some piece of crappy technology that’ll be
obsolete within the year.However, I
did want to point out something I heard at my job recently.

One
of my coworkers, trying to look on the bright side of only opening at
midnight on Thanksgiving, said something along the lines like, “At least we
don’t have to open at 10pm or 8pm like [some of our competitors].”

To
which I say, “Buuuuulllllshiiiiiiit.”

You
see, do customers think the store just magically looks the way it does when
they walk into the stores?Do you see
those displays set-up around the store?Do you see how there are stacks of flyers or ads or pamphlets laid about
in certain parts of the stores?Well,
the places you shop don’t magically look like that because a jolly fat man in a
red suit makes it look that way.We’re
not elves selling toys made in Santa’s workshop.There’s no fairy dust that magically turns stores into winter
wonderlands.

Since
the stores are “closed” on Thanksgiving, everyone has to run around after our
store closes for the day on Wednesday like their heads are chopped off trying
to set everything up for Friday.Of the
2-3 times I’ve done this, I’ve stayed to at least 1am.Then what do you do when you get home?If you’re me, you have to eat something
& then you’re too awake to fall asleep right away.So, typically, I’m not asleep until around
3am.

Then,
since the store now opens at midnight, if one has an opening shift, we’re
scheduled an hour or two before the store actually opens.I’ve started as early as 10pm.So from midnight on Wednesday to – let’s say
– 2am on Thursday, and then again from 10pm to midnight, I’m most definitely
working on Thanksgiving.

It’s
that kind of thinking that retail companies want you to have.At first it was, “I’m working 4am but at
least I’m not working at midnight.”Then, when everyone started to open at midnight, we all thought, “I’m
working at midnight but at least it’s not ON Thanksgiving.”To which stores like Target have decided to
start opening their doors at 9pm or so ON Thanksgiving.It’s time we all got together & realized
that sales aren’t worth it.EVERYONE
deserves a day – 24 FULL hours – off from work to see the people we don’t get
to see very often.This is something
customers AND employees should agree on and need to work together to fix.

Customers
need to refuse to shop at stores that open at midnight (or earlier). Employees, well, I guess the only thing we
can do is to keep getting the word out to people we know and tell them to hold
off on sales.My parents never stood in
line at 4am for a toy and if I was ever upset that I didn’t get something for
Christmas, I quickly got over it because I always got more than I probably
deserved.And so will your kids,
relatives, friends, and whoever else you’re in line for.

Incase
I don’t get the chance to update before it arrives I wanted to wish everyone a
very happy Thanksgiving.I thank you
all for taking time out to read my rants and ramblings.This is just a little project I decided to
do as an outlet but it means a lot that you all are reading it.If you’re living outside the States… Count
yourself lucky you’re not apart of the crazy bull that is associated with the
Christmas season here in the States.Moor soon from the frontlines...

2 comments:

It's sad, and ridiculous that this is what the world has come to. People having to work holidays just so big business can make a few bucks, and so dumb assholes can get an Ipod for a few dollars cheaper. I don't shop black Friday, I refuse. I stay home, and shop on Amazon.

About Me

A 30-something-year-old who has spent most of my life in retail. In all that time, I've amassed quite a bit of observations on people who shop at, or work for, retail companies. I've been watching and taking notes, people.